


A Sweater Weather Summer Camp AU!

by Alittledeal



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Sweater Weather - Lumosinlove
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28049493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alittledeal/pseuds/Alittledeal
Summary: The title explains things pretty well I think!Join our bunch of young adults as they spend their summer as counsellors at Gryffindor summer camp, which specialises in creating a safe summer camp experience for LGBTQ youth. For some it’s there first summer and others are returning. All are in for some drama.
Kudos: 2





	1. Introduction - Dumo

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sweater Weather](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20750912) by [lumosinlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumosinlove/pseuds/lumosinlove). 



> This universe belongs to @lumosinlove and I thank her profusely for the creation of these wonderful wonderful characters and for allowing us to play with them. You’re the best!
> 
> This fic will be a multi POV with each chapter centering around a different character. All of the characters tagged will either have a chapter POV or be a partner of a one of those characters. 
> 
> And without further ado, enjoy!

“Okay, folks - listen up, please,” Pascal Dumo’s voice boomed through the microphone. Silence rippled across the crowd of young adults who had been talking excitedly amongst themselves. Dumo, as he was affectionately known, smiled as faces turned towards him. “Welcome to Gryffindor Summer Camp - Join the pride. My name is Pascal but please, call me Dumo,” he started, small laughter tinging the edges of his voice at the cheesiness of the slogan. 

“We’re so excited to have you here and firstly, I want to thank you all for giving up your summers to give our kids an amazing time. In a moment, we’ll give you a couple of hours to find your cabins, get settled in and unpack. Please be back here by 13.00. The training schedule, as you’ll have seen in the information sent, is pretty full on but you’ll have the afternoon off on Sunday before we’re bombarded on Monday morning. My office door is always open if you have any questions or just want to talk.” 

Dumo rattled through his usual speech, having perfected it over the years to be concise enough to hold the hoard of distracted young adult’s attention. He turned, gesturing towards a woman stood on the edge of the stage area to come and join him. His smile grew a little wider as she approached. “Alternatively, this here is Celeste, my wife, but more importantly our camp therapist. She’ll be leading some sessions with our campers, however she’s also here for you. Please seek her out if you have any worries or concerns. Okay, I can see you are all dying to get to your cabins so I’ll let you go for now.”

The crowd began to murmur amongst themselves and Dumo cleared his throat to get their final tendrils of attention, “remember that your cabin assignments are posted on the staff billboard. Please do not switch. Cabin counsellors, you in particular have been placed so that you are as near to your kids as possible. And once again, back by 13.00. Okay, that is all, au revoir.” 

Pascal watched as the crowd dispersed slowly; returning counsellors stopping to greet old friends and new counsellors looking slightly overwhelmed. He wondered what stories were to come out of this bunch. He was jolted out of his musing by a strong shoulder bumping into his. Sergei. He’d know it anywhere. 

“Who are you plotting to put together this year?” Sergei teased, a strong Russian accent filtering into the words despite having lived in various parts of the United States for nearly two decades now. 

Dumo smirked, his eyes almost shining with mischief, “Moi? I would never do such a thing.”

Sergei rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around Dumo, “No, of course not. The fact that both Lupin and Black’s cabins were suddenly uninhabitable overnight last year was surely a coincidence.” He nodded a head towards the aforementioned couple. The boys were standing by a small huddle of other returning counsellors; their hands were clenched together and they stood so close to one another that they practically inhabited one another’s space. “They are back again.” 

“They are very cute indeed,” Dumo hummed, casting his eyes over the crowd until they met two boys that he had seen earlier. One taller with red hair and the other shorter with a baseball hat over a head of brown curls. “Maybe the cabin of those two will become dangerous this year,” he laughed as he subtly pointed out the boys that he meant. 

Suddenly, the red haired boy lifted the baseball cap off the other boy’s head and pressed his lips to his forehead before bounding off in the direction of staff HQ. 

“I think you might be too late,” Sergei gave a small laugh, his mouth turning up at the edges just slightly. 

“That only assures me that my senses are correct,” Dumo shrugged, leaning into his boyfriend. “You’re going home tonight, yes? And then you will bring the kids back with you tomorrow?”

Sergei nodded, “Yes, Anya will come by on Wednesday but I think she wants to catch up with Celeste more than see me. She has already brought a bottle of wine.”

Pascal laughed a deep booming laugh, “At least that means we can finally get a night to ourselves. Addie can keep an eye on the children.They’ll have the whole camp wrapped around their little fingers by Wednesday I am sure.” 

“Pascal, mon amour, I am sorry to interrupt, but Regulus here has a room allocation issue and I thought it best if you dealt with it,” Celeste said, stepping into Dumo’s line of vision. Next to her stood a slightly rumpled looking young adult. _Regulus, they/them_ , the name badge pinned to their chest read. 

Sergei gave Dumo’s shoulder one last squeeze before grunting, “I’m going to go and do some last checks in the kitchen. Let the madness begin,” and wandering off. 

Let the madness begin indeed, Dumo thought. Sometimes running this camp felt like fighting an uprising of zombies; each time he battled one problem another popped up in its place. Nevertheless, the happiness he gained from it far outweighed the stress and he couldn’t wait to see what Summer 2020 was going to bring.


	2. Regulus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay! I completely forgot to upload here. My tumblr is @awanderingdeal if you want (slightly) more regular updates. I will do my best to put them here ASAP though. 
> 
> Anyway! The first official chapter of Summer Camp AU. I’m afraid this isn’t such a cheery one but is necessary for plot building. Content warnings for panic attacks, anxiety and mentions/implications of abuse. 
> 
> Thank you to my betas for their incredible work! 
> 
> As always, this universe belongs to @lumosinlove and I thank her profusely for the creation of these wonderful wonderful characters and for allowing us to play with them. You’re the best!

Regulus ran a hand through their black hair. Despite being out of their parents’ house for a little over a year now, they still didn’t feel comfortable in anything but the short cropped style. It was the same one that they’d had since the day they’d started kindergarten, and mixing it up had felt like one change too many in a year of unknowns. 

Looking around, they felt like everybody else there already knew at least one person and that they were the only one who had come alone. They considered trying to introduce themself to one of the groups close by, but decided that going to check out who their roommate was would be a better idea. 

Regulus struggled to make friends. The posh, stand-offish approach that had been drilled into them by their parents was difficult to shake off and people didn’t seem to take kindly to it. A roommate would be forced to spend enough time with them that they would slowly start to see that he wasn’t such an ass underneath it all. 

With a game plan in hand, Regulus felt a bit better as they traipsed across the camp, following the map they had been given to the building labelled staff HQ. 

That was until their eyes locked onto the piece of paper pinned to the bulletin with their room assignment on; cabin 6 - Regulus Black and Sirius Black. Their brain spun through a cacophony of thoughts so quickly that they couldn’t quite grasp on to them. Maybe it was just a coincidence, they tried to reason. The reassurance lasted microseconds. How many people were named Sirius Black after all. 

Regulus felt a dull feeling buried in their chest. An itch almost. They knew the feeling intimately. They tried to steady their breathing. 5 seconds in 5 seconds out. The itch wasn’t going. In fact, it was getting worse. They pressed the heel of their hand against their sternum rubbing it harshly but the sensation persisted. 

“Excuse me, could I see the list please?” a voice cut through the fuzziness of Regulus’ brain. 

“Oh. Yes. Sorry,” Regulus rushed out, turning on their heel and walking quickly to the exit, feeling a sudden need to be out of the building. Once outside, their eyes darted around looking for somewhere that felt safe. Their fingers clenching and unclenching by their side. Their knuckles felt tight and irritated, as if there was a pressure building inside them. Focus, Regulus. Find somewhere safe. 

They didn’t quite remember moving but they somehow found themself sitting behind a tree. It was thick, and the angle of the stage they had just been listening to Dumo speak from did a good job of blocking them from the view of the other staff. They just needed a minute to compose themself. However, as they let out another slow breath, letting it whistle through their teeth, they looked up and their eyes met another pair. 

“Hello, I’m Celeste,” the motherly looking woman introduced herself. 

“I know.” Regulus blurted out. Dumo had already told them that. 

Celeste ignored the interruption. “I saw you sitting over here by yourself and wanted to check that you were okay. I know it can all be a lot if it’s your first time with us." 

"I am okay,” Regulus nodded slowly. “I’m okay,” they repeated, unsure which of them they were trying to convince.

Celeste watched them carefully for a moment before replying, “If you are sure. I will be nearby if you change your mind,” She took a final glance at them before starting to walk away. 

Celeste had barely walked a few meters before Regulus called out, “Wait. Please." 

She stopped immediately, turning to face them again. "I’m still here,” she said softly.

“I know that Dumo said that we couldn’t switch rooms but do you think that he would make an exception?” Regulus asked, their voice filled with hope. 

Celeste cocked her head slightly, “What’s your name?" 

Regulus was a bit blindsided by the question. It wasn’t an answer to their own after all. They pulled themself to their feet, dusting off the dirt from their clothes. Mother wouldn’t approve. "It’s Regulus,” they finally answered, gesturing to their name badge. 

“Regulus.” Celeste repeated the name.

It was a bit annoying. Couldn’t she just answer the question? 

“Have you had a disagreement with your roommates, Regulus?” Celeste asked. 

“He’s my brother,” Regulus said, the reply seemingly leaving their mouth of their own accord. “We are not…we have not spoken in quite some time.”

Celeste looked at them for a long time. They could tell that she wanted to ask more questions but instead she beckoned to Regulus, “come with me. We will speak to Pascal and see what we can do." 

Regulus followed Celeste over to the stage where Dumo was standing with another man. They seemed affectionate. Dumo had introduced Celeste as his wife though, right? Regulus dismissed the thought, it was really none of their business and they had more important things to think about at this moment in time. Their eyes scanned over the small group of people left whilst Celeste spoke to Dumo. Relief washed over them when they noticed that none of them were Sirius. Regulus wasn’t ready to see him yet. 

“Regulus?” Dumo said, making Regulus jump as they were jolted out of their thoughts. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Dumo apologised, giving Celeste a small smile that apparently served as a gentle dismissal, because she tapped Regulus reassuringly on the shoulder and left. 

“Now, I hear that you wish to change your room?” Dumo said, waiting for Regulus’ short nod before continuing, “Remind me where you are helping us out, please?”

Regulus cracked their knuckles. “I’m teaching archery,” they replied, almost wincing at the timidity of their voice. Mother wouldn’t approve. They had always been so sure of themself, their parents constantly reinforcing the fact that they were special. However the last few years had left them feeling ground down and wary. It had been hard to bounce back. 

Dumo nodded. “Ahh, good, not a cabin counsellor. I’m sure that we can find you a space somewhere. The thing is Regulus…”

Regulus worried their lip between their teeth. There was always a problem where they were concerned. Nothing could ever be easy could it?

“The thing is, this is supposed to be a safe space for our kids. I can’t have hostility at the camp. Can you assure me that there isn’t going to be any problems between you and Sirius?”

Regulus took a deep breath, rubbing the heel of their palm into their temple. Their head hurt. They just wanted to lie down. “I promise there will not be any trouble on my part,” Regulus replied. It was the truth. They would be happy if they didn’t see Sirius at all. 

“Of course, I do not know the source of your troubles but would you be willing to sit and talk with Sirius? At least to come to some sort of agreement during your time with us. Perhaps with Celeste to mediate?” Dumo asked.

“Do I have to?” Regulus squeaked, much to their embarrassment. 

“No,” Dumo shook his head. “You will not be forced to do anything that you do not want to here at Gryffindor. It’s a safe place for you too,” he continued, reaching out to pat Regulus’ arm. 

Regulus flinched before the hand had even made contact and Dumo pulled his hand away quickly. 

“I’m sorry, I should have asked before I touched you,” Dumo apologised. 

“It’s stupid. I know you weren’t going to hurt me.” Regulus sighed. They wondered if they would ever be normal and if their upbringing was ever going to not affect them? “Can we just find me a room please?” 

Dumo looked at them for a long time. The gaze was reminiscent of the one that Celeste had fixed them with earlier. Dumo seemed to want to say something and Regulus doubted that the “Yes, let’s go and look at the room plans,” that was verbalised was it. 

Regulus followed Dumo back to the building that he had been in earlier. It was quiet now. They watched Dumo scan the sheet quickly before tapping a finger against it, “Oui, there is a space here.” 

Regulus smiled at the small French word. It made them feel more at home. They hadn’t been in Quebec since they’d run away and they missed it a lot. Their eyes fell to where Dumo’s finger met the sheet; Cabin 10 - Leo Knut.

“Come, I will take you there. You’ve lost a lot of settling in time already. There is no need for you to be lost too.” Dumo said.

“I will be fine,” Regulus argued. “I don’t have much to unpack.” 

“Indeed. But you look like you could do with a rest. And the longer, the better.” 

Regulus cursed their pale skin, knowing that the heating of their cheeks was most definitely showing up as a bright pink blush, “Yes. I am quite tired.” 

Dumo led the way to the cabin and Regulus had to admit that they probably would have gotten lost at least a few times if they had tried to make it there by themself. The door to the cabin was open when they arrived, and Regulus could see a tall blond carefully folding t-shirts into one of the drawers under the bed.

Dumo knocked on the open door, making the occupant jump a little. “Hello, Leo isn’t it? Regulus here will be taking the second bed in this cabin. I know you were supposed to have it to yourself so I hope it’s not too much of a disappointment.”

Regulus wrapped their arms around themself and dropped their eyes to the floor, making themself small in a way that reminded them of being shoved in a corner at their grandparents house, and being told to, “sit there quietly and don’t be a nuisance.”

“Oh, hey!” Leo beamed. “No, that is perfect. I was a bit disappointed to be alone, if I’m telling the truth. It’s just not the camp way is it?” 

Regulus noticed that there was a twang to the words. Something southern. 

“Excellent, I’ll leave you two to settle in then,” Dumo said, giving a nod before leaving. 

A breath that Regulus didn’t even know that they had been holding escaped when they dropped their backpack onto the free bed and sat down. It was a few moments before they felt Leo’s stare.

“Sorry,” Regulus apologised. “I’m Regulus. But you already knew that because Dumo just told you. I’m such an idiot. Shit, sorry. I’m just really tired.” The words just wouldn’t seem to stop coming. How had they spent so many hours having elocution lessons drilled into them just to become such a bumbling mess? 

“Hey, no, don’t worry.” Leo’s voice broke through Regulus’ monologue. “I’m Leo. Pronouns are he/him and I’m gay as fuck.” He sat down on the bed as he gestured to the name tag and a couple of pins attached to his t-shirt. A rainbow. Make it GAY. A small Stitch waving a trans flag with the words ‘Ohana, means nobody gets left behind’ on it. “I can be quiet if you want to take a nap?” Leo added. 

“That’d be nice.” Regulus nodded. “You don’t really need to be quiet though. I sleep like the dead.” 

Leo merely gave a smile and stretched a long arm to grab a book from his suitcase.

Regulus had only just rolled up into a ball and clenched their eyes closed hoping at least a little sleep would come their way when they abruptly turned back over to face Leo. “Hey. Could I ask you something?” 

“Sure, go ahead,” Leo said, seemingly unfazed by the sudden question. He just glanced at the corner of his book, set it down and turned his attention to Regulus. 

Regulus wasn’t sure why they were about to spout their personal history to somebody who was practically a stranger but there was something about Leo that was reassuring. “Do you have siblings?”

Leo shook his head, hand going to his wrist to play with the frayed end of the rainbow bracelet wrapped around it, “No, just me, my Mama and my Dad. Why do you ask?”

Regulus let out a breath of air through their nose, wondering how they could explain the situation. “I have a brother, but he left home when I was 11. I haven’t seen him since.” Regulus started. Leo just looked at them patiently despite the long pause, apparently recognising that they weren’t finished. “But he’s here. I was supposed to room with him. I just…I can’t. And Dumo wants me to meet with him and I said no but I don’t know if I should have and what if, maybe I should just go home?” Regulus rambled, no longer trying to bend their thoughts into coherency. 

“Reg,” Leo said, kneeling by his bed now. Regulus couldn’t help but notice how tall he was from this close. “Hey, calm down. Just breathe.” 

Regulus watched Leo’s mouth taking in long breaths and tried to copy them. 

“That’s it.” Leo reassured. “I’m not sure if I got all that properly but you and your brother, did you get along before he left?”

Regulus squeezed their eyes shut before replying, “We did when we were little. We were each other’s best friend and then he…it was my fault, I thought he was wrong. I didn’t realise they…”

“Reg,” Leo interrupted them again. “ You don’t have to make any decisions now. Whether you meet your brother or not. Whether you go home or not. They can all wait until you’ve had some sleep. No offense but you look exhausted,” he gave a small chuckle. “And maybe put the pack off the bed, take your shoes off, get under the sheets? I’ll be right over there. Nobody is going to sneak up on you.”

Regulus cocked their head at Leo, wondering how the boy who could barely have been 18 was so wise. 

“Hey, I could read to you if you wanted?” 

Regulus grumbled, “I’m not a kid.” 

“Good, because this story isn’t really appropriate for kids. It’s about a group of college students who murder their friend.” Leo snorted. 

“Such great naptime reading,” Regulus laughed. 

“Shut up. Do you want it or not?” Leo teased playfully, rolling onto his feet and making his way back to his own bed. 

“Yeah, sure. Just give me a second,” Regulus replied, placing their backpack on the floor and beginning to take off their shoes. They tried to relax. Leo was right. Even if they decided to go home they could let themself sleep for a bit before they started the long journey back to California. They’d make decisions later.


	3. Sirius

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello, welcome back to Gryffindor. This chapter finds us with Sirius. This one is a bit angsty again, but there’s also lots of happy points. I promise we will have some fun camp type stuff next chapter!
> 
> CW: Sirius does misgender Reg for most of this chapter in his internal monologue as he does not know that Regulus has changed his pronouns. It is not intentional and Sirius does switch pronouns both verbally and mentally as soon as he is aware. Just in case that makes anybody uncomfy. 
> 
> Thank you, thank you, thank you to my wonderful betas for catching all my 3am mistakes (and also, just my complete inability to grammar).
> 
> And finally, thank you to @lumosinlove for the creation of the sweater weather universe. It honestly is a light in my life.

Sirius was pulled from the depth of his thoughts by two short vibrations pulsing through his hands. He glanced down at his phone and felt the corner of his mouth pull up at the name, Mon Loup. Remus was always checking up on him.

**_Are you okay? Is he there?_ **

__Sirius didn’t know how to answer the first question. He didn’t know how he was feeling. The last thing he had expected when they had gotten in the car that morning was to be seeing his brother’s name next to his on the room allocations. His mind had spun through a rollercoaster of emotions: anger, guilt, joy, anger, confusion. Luckily, Remus had been there to notice the impending meltdown and had wrapped his arms around him and told him that it was going to be fine. And somehow Sirius had believed him._ _

__He took a minute to compose his reply, knowing that trying to lie to Remus about his mental state was futile._ _

**I’m…coping. No, he’s not. No bags either.**

__Sirius wished that Remus could be here with him. However, his boyfriend had just graduated with his BSN and was now a paid member of staff on the nursing team. Along with the extra responsibility came his own cabin. Sirius had insisted he went and settled in there. His phone buzzed again._ _

**_I told you, he’s probably just as worried about seeing you. He’s here, isn’t he? He’s more than just a product of your parents._ **

____Sirius hated when Remus was logical like that. He was right though, something must have changed. There was no way that his biological parents would approve of Regulus’ coming here. “Merde!” Sirius groaned, flopping backwards onto the bed. He’d been through this a thousand times with his therapist. He’d tried to take Regulus with him. Regulus hadn’t wanted to come. Besides, he was still a minor and there was no way he could have gotten the evidence to get Regulus out of there legally. It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his fault._ _ _ _

**_It’s not your fault, baby. You know that._ **

______How did Remus always know? Sirius glanced at the time on his phone, 12.05. He worried about where Regulus was and if he wasn’t staying in this cabin, then had he found somewhere else to sleep? The big brother in him would never completely go. The backpack on the floor caught his eye. I might as well start unpacking, Sirius thought._ _ _ _ _ _

______The time passed quickly and soon the alarm that he’d set for 12.50 was sounding. He had managed to get all of his clothes into the drawers under the bed and pinned the photo of him and Remus to the wall. He’d tucked his drawing pad under the pillow. There was only one thing missing._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius took a deep breath, grabbing his smaller daypack and headed back to the main stage where they had been gathered before Dumo had dismissed them all. He was scanning the slowly forming crowd for the familiar features of his brother when a body barrelled into his back._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Dude! I just saw your twin, I swear.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The voice belonged to James Potter. They had only met last year - at this very camp - but Sirius already felt like he had known him a lifetime._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Jeez, Potter. My ears,” Sirius moaned, shoving his friend lightly. “Attends…What did you just say?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Jeez,” James mocked Sirius’ acquisition of his boyfriend’s mannerisms. “There’s somebody here who looks exactly like you.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Regulus.” Sirius gasped, his eyes darting over the crowd again._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Who’s Reg-” James started and then his hand was hitting Sirius’ arm as realisation dawned on him. “Your brother.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius could only give a slow nod._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Do you need…I can tell him to stay away from you if you want?” James’ eyebrows knitted into a frown._ _ _ _ _ _

______This time Sirus shook his head quickly, “Non. No, I want to see him. I need to see him.” Sirius hadn’t even realised himself that was what he wanted until that moment._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Oh,” James said and turned abruptly to face the ever growing group of people. “He was just there, I swear. We can go find him.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius opened his mouth to reply when Dumo’s voice cut through the noise of the crowd, “Hello everyone, thank you for being back on time.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______James gave a distressed noise and Sirius squeezed his arm reassuringly. He loved that his friend hadn’t even questioned his desire to find Regulus. Sirius had wanted something and James was ready to make it happen._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius tuned back into Dumo’s instructions, “ - lunch until 14.00 and then we will begin with some icebreakers. Finally, this evening we will have an in depth tour of the camp followed by a game of capture the flag. Only so that you know how to play for when the campers come, of course. We won’t have a campfire tonight, I know many of you have travelled from afar and will want to get to bed early. But be prepared because I want all of you ready with your singing voices, tomorrow.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______James had apparently forgotten about his troubles because he was excitedly bouncing on the balls of his feet._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Come on,” Sirius said, “Let’s go and eat. It’s not as if Regulus is going anywhere.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______The lunch hall was a chaos of noise and Sirius allowed himself to be swept up in it. The empty table that they found was soon filled. Lily arrived first pressing a kiss first to James’ forehead and then Sirius’._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Lily! I missed you so much. How did you find us?” James grinned._ _ _ _ _ _

______Lily rolled her eyes, “darling, it has only been two hours since I last saw you. And how many other people have tie dyed their t-shirts?"_ _ _ _ _ _

______James looked down at the purple, black and white swirls on his t-shirt proudly, causing Sirius to smile fondly._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Who are you sharing your cabin with?” Sirius asked, using his hands to compress the monstrosity of a sandwich that he had created before dipping it into his chicken soup._ _ _ _ _ _

______“That is so gross,” Lily grimaced at the action. “Now your lettuce is all soggy. And to answer your question, it’s Natalie. You know, Darcy. Tall, blonde, formidable. She’ll be over in a minute. Think she was just waiting for her boyfriend.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______As if on cue, Natalie appeared, placing her tray down next to Lily before rounding the table and wrapping her arms around Sirius and kissing his earlobe. He would have been startled had it been anybody else but he regularly received semi-threatening texts from her telling him to have Remus check his voicemails. “That is from your boyfriend. He said he misses you. Which is gross but I was bribed with cake.” Natalie said, gesturing to the two slices of cake on her tray._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Who’s the rookie?” James asked through a mouthful of food, looking at the red headed boy who had just sat down next to Kasey, Natalie’s boyfriend._ _ _ _ _ _

______The boy waved casually at the table, seeming very relaxed for a new counsellor, “I’m Alex. And technically, I’m not a rookie. Done a few camps down in Tampa, but I thought I’d join my brother, Finn, here at Queer camp this summer.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Oh, I think I sa-” James began, but was interrupted by Lily’s squeal of excitement._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Marl! Dory!” Lily called across the hall attracting the attention of two girls. They made their way over seeing Lily’s wave, followed closely by two other counsellors._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Everybody, this is Marlene and her girlfriend, Dorcas. Marl was my little sister at college.” Lily introduced them to the table._ _ _ _ _ _

______They both flashed a smile and Marlene titled her head towards the two timid looking boys behind them, “We said Ollie and Timmy here could sit with us. It’s their first year too."_ _ _ _ _ _

______They all found a seat and the usual round of questions began. Despite Sirius’ attempts to listen to where everybody was working in the camp, his mind was drifting to thoughts of his brother._ _ _ _ _ _

______He felt James’ hand gently touch his wrist and when Sirius turned to look at him, James mouthed, ” You okay?“_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius nodded, "I’m fine.” He realised that he had reached the end of his soup and the fact he was now trying to spoon air into his mouth was probably what had attracted James’ concern. “Oh. In my own world, I guess,” he said quietly._ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius pulled himself upright, “I’m just going to get a fork,” he added more loudly and climbed off the bench. He could have eaten the cake with a spoon, but he wanted a minute to text Remus without being chirped by his friends. Crossing the busy hall with his head down was always going to be a mistake and he found himself colliding with another body as he approached the cutlery trays._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I’m so sorry!” Sirius apologised, cringing at the sensation of warm soup seeping through his t-shirt. “I was just -” he started, but as he lifted his head he was met with hauntingly familiar grey eyes._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Reggie,” Sirius breathed, the nickname slipping out of his mouth._ _ _ _ _ _

______He received no reply._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Regulus? Are you okay?” a tall blond boy that Sirius didn’t recognise asked._ _ _ _ _ _

______Regulus didn’t get to answer this time even if he had wanted to as an older man, maybe in his 40’s appeared and said gruffly, “Is all alright here?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Yes, yes, we are fine thank you,” Sirius answered. “It was my fault, I wasn’t looking.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Be more careful, Black,” the man said. Sirius managed to pull his eyes away from his brother to look at the name tag. Sergei._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Be nice to the kids please, Sergei,” Dumo spoke lightly, a small smile resting on his lips. Sirius swore that the man had appeared out of nowhere._ _ _ _ _ _

______“You always play favourites, Dumasha,” Sergei grumbled. “He is making a mess of my -”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Could I just talk to my brother, please!” Sirius snapped._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Not your brother,” Regulus said, the sound barely audible._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Reggie, please. Just let me…” Sirius began. He just wanted a chance to explain how he tried to take Regulus with him, but it hadn’t been possible. To explain that Sirius had needed to get free himself before he could help Regulus and then by the time he was set up, Regulus had been the one to reject him._ _ _ _ _ _

______“I don’t think they are objecting to talking to you,” the blond boy interrupted. “I think they mean that they are your sibling. Not your brother. Is that correct, Reg?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Regulus nodded slowly, fingers clenched tightly around the empty tray in his hands._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Not my bro-” Sirius’s eyes caught the nametag clipped to Regulus’ t-shirt. He hadn’t looked at it before. They/Them. “Oh. Ohh. I’m sorry, Reggie. I didn’t mean to…”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Regulus cut him off. “It’s okay, you didn’t know,” they said._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Still, I’m sorry,” Sirius sighed. “Look, Regulus. Could we talk? Preferably without all these other people?” he asked, his voice hopeful. Sirius turned his gaze to the boy that he didn’t recognize, “Who are you anyway?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______“Leo Knut. Regulus’ roommate. I’ll leave you two to talk if that is what Regulus wants?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius wasn’t sure if he wanted to punch the guy or hug him for protecting his sibling._ _ _ _ _ _

______Regulus gave another nod, more sure than the one they gave earlier. “Go and eat, Leo. Sirius and I should talk. It was always going to have to happen at some point if I stay, eh?”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius took the opportunity to look at Regulus properly. They looked almost identical to when Sirius had last seen them. Only taller. And they held themselves differently. Somehow it was meekier and yet more sure of themselves. Just as Sirius was about to spiral into a mess of thoughts about what he’d left Regulus to face by themself, Dumo cleared his throat._ _ _ _ _ _

______“Okay, me and Sergei will clean up this mess. Sirius, I think you should get a clean t-shirt. Regulus, go and make yourself another sandwich. Then we’ll find you somewhere quiet to talk.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Regulus smiled, “Yeah, I’d like that.”_ _ _ _ _ _

______Sirius let out a breath that he hadn’t realised he was holding, “Yeah, me too.”_ _ _ _ _ _


	4. Leo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the wait on this one! Our darling Leo will be taking us through this chapter. 
> 
> CW: mentions of injury (minor)
> 
> Please message me if you feel that any content warnings need to be added or the rating is not appropriate. 
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful betas for helping me in my never ending war against grammar!
> 
> The characters in this fic belong to @lumosinlove and you should definitely go and check out her fics!

Leo had only been to summer camp once as a kid, and that had been back in middle school. It had escaped his memory how draining it was to meet so many new people, learn the layout of the site, and to keep track of all the rules he needed to remember. Between that, and the bruises littering his body from the evening of Dodgeball and Capture the Flag, Leo was exhausted. Happy, but exhausted. 

Regulus hadn’t crept back into their cabin until the early hours of the morning and had declined coming to breakfast in favour of more sleep. It meant that Leo was alone when he set his breakfast tray down at an empty table. He was only able to savour the quiet for a couple of minutes though, before the chaos of camp caught up with him. 

“Leo!” a boy said, startling Leo into looking up from his eggs. He recognised him from the game of dodgeball; he’d hit Leo square in the chest. Besides, it would have been difficult to forget that face. Cropped curls, a chiseled jawline and deep brown eyes. He’d cut his camp t-shirt into a low tank top. Leo noticed the scars, a slightly paler brown than the rest of his skin, peeking out through the oversized arm holes. He’d never seen anybody wear them so proudly before and it made him want to smile. Not only for the other boy, but for himself. Because if 13 year old Leo, heck if 17 year old Leo, had been told that one day he’d be in a place that would allow him to be authentically himself, and he’d be surrounded by others who understood what it was to be different, he never would have believed it. 

“Morning,” Leo had to glance at the boy's badge; he was awful with names. “Thomas,” he said with a smile. He’d only said two words to the boy yesterday, but Thomas seemed like the type who would be friends with anybody that was willing. 

“Call me Talker,” Thomas said, reaching out a hand for Leo to shake. “Please.” 

“Morning, Talker,” Leo repeated with a laugh, shaking the hand before shovelling more eggs into his mouth. 

Soon the table was full, and Leo found himself in a heated conversation about whether kindles were better than books. Somehow, that led to him lapping up James’ stories of previous camp disasters until Lily shoved her boyfriend and told him to stop scaring the rookie. 

The chatter was interrupted by the static of a microphone. Everybody, including Leo, turned towards the source of the noise. A flustered looking young man stood over by the buffet table, clutching his hands around the microphone so hard that his knuckles were white. James cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, “Go Loops!”

The man smiled and gave a nervous cough, but the encouragement seemed to work. “Hi everybody, I’m Remus Lupin. Most people just call me Loops though. My pronouns are he/him and I’ve been coming to this camp for the last two years. Clearly I didn’t suck too much, because they hired me as a medic this year,” he paused, his eyes searching the crowd. They landed on the man that Leo had met as Regulus’ brother the day before, and his smile grew wider. “I’m going to be leading the first aid training this morning, so if you could all be out at the pavilion in 15 minutes that would be fantastic...thanks.” 

The room fell silent as Remus set the microphone back in its stand and walked off, receiving a pat on the shoulder from Dumo as he passed. The hall soon erupted with noise again as people finished up their food and made to follow the instructions they had been given.

“Alright! Let’s go save some lives,” Thomas boomed, downing the last of his glass of milk and grabbing his tray. He’d only taken two steps before he turned back around and flashed a grin at Leo. “Nutty! I forgot to say. Dumo asked us to film some promo TikToks and your beautiful face would be great in it. You in?” 

Leo had no idea who ‘us’ was, but he’d promised himself to take every opportunity that this camp threw at him so he nodded, and gave a small, “Sure, why not?”

“Great, I’ll see you after dinner then,” Thomas said, walking off with a bounce in his step.

When Leo made his way to the pavilion, he was given a card with the number 1 on it by Remus. He didn’t know what it was for, but clutched it in his hand as he looked around for Regulus, hoping they had managed to wake up on time. He was relieved to set his eyes on them talking to June, a girl that Leo had met yesterday. She had been a bit intimidating, leaning against a tree, dressed in biker boots and a leather jacket that he later learnt had a bisexual flag stiched into back. However, she’d turned out to be extremely friendly and Leo relaxed knowing Regulus was in good hands. 

“Okay! Listen up, folks,” Remus called out. “Each of you has been given a card with a number on it. There is one other person with the same number as you. Please find them, they are going to be your partner for today’s training session.”

Different people seemed to have different strategies for finding their partner. Some decided to stay where they were and just shout their numbers. Others darted around asking each individual what their number was. Leo didn’t need to use either to find his. With his first glance across the crowd, he settled his eyes on a person holding a card with the number one on it. With a triumphant smile, he weaved through the other counselors quickly so as not to lose sight of his partner. 

“Hey, I’m Leo. I think you’re mine,” Leo introduced himself, glancing quickly at the nametag on Logan’s chest before looking up at his face again. The action had become almost habitual already. 

Logan peered from under the brim of his hat. He had deep green eyes that Leo swore were looking into his soul as they swept over the length of his body. “Yeah, I suppose you are,” the boy said eventually. “My name’s Logan, but I guess you already know that. Pleased to meet you.” 

“The pleasure is all mine,” Leo mumbled quietly under his breath. He had promised himself that he wasn’t going to do the cliched ‘summer camp romance’ thing. After all, he’d just gotten over the ‘closeted jock’ situation and that hadn’t been fun, to say the least. He wanted to be done with men for a very long time, but it didn’t hurt to look, right?

Before Logan could respond, Remus had gathered their attention again and they got swept away with learning how to recognise and assist the injuries and ailments that they were most likely to see over the coming weeks.

“Merde!” Logan gasped, pulling Leo from his thoughts. He figured that he had wound the bandage too tight around Logan’s arm.

“Sorry! Sorry,” he apologised, trying to remove it as quickly as he could. “Are you okay?”

Logan frowned for a second, “I am fine. Why would you ask that?”

“Was it not too tight?” Leo asked, gesturing to Logan’s arm, a little confused. 

Logan’s features knitted into a tighter frown before he seemed to have a realisation. “Oh, non. That was fine. Perfect. I will never bleed to death with you around,” he said, gesturing for Leo to do the bandage again so that Remus could inspect his work. 

“Okay…” Leo hesitated, “Why did you swear then?”

“You’re the angel,” Logan grinned, and Leo just grew more confused. Logan huffed out a laugh. “I believe you met my boyfriend yesterday. Tall...although, not as tall as you. Red hair. Bit of an idiot.”

“You mean Finn,” Leo smiled, remembering the boy from yesterday. “Wait. Did you say boyfriend?” 

Leo had been one of the people allocated to defend his team's flag. His back was to it, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blue, white and pink stripes. Dumo had taken the opportunity to educate the counsellors on the flags of different identities before letting each team choose which would be theirs for the game. A timid looking blonde girl had whooped so loudly before her pale cheeks had turned crimson that it had been a unanimous decision for their team to take the trans flag. 

It had been eerily quiet for a while when three people came crashing out of the trees. Leo recognised two of them; a Russian boy who had insisted everybody called him Kuny instead of butchering his name, and Jackson Nadeau. They were both on his team.The person they were chasing was not. Leo glanced to his right, checking that there was nobody coming from that direction before he tried to intercept the intruder. Leo had thought he was fast, but they had easily whipped past him and Leo was left watching them run. He didn’t have time to call out between seeing the rock and watching them fall flat on their face. 

“Are you okay?” Leo shouted, forgetting the game as he ran over to check they hadn’t hurt themselves too badly. He was worried that they weren’t moving, but just as Leo kneeled down, they groaned and rolled onto their back. 

“Shit,” Leo said, taking in the blood dripping down the pale skin. “Hey, I’m Leo. Can you tell me your name?” Leo asked, already knowing it was Finn from the name tag, but he wanted to check that the boy knew himself. 

“Fi-Fish,” the red haired boy slurred, blinking rapidly. “Am I in heaven?” he asked, reaching up to cup Leo’s face.

“No, you’re at Camp Gryffindor. Not quite heaven, but pretty close,” Leo gave a nervous laugh. “Just stay still. We’re going to get somebody to help you.”

“You look like an angel to me,” Finn whispered, making Leo blush. He gave a little cough before looking up at Kuny and Jackson, who had joined him at Finn’s side. “Can one of you go and grab a medic, please?”

Leo had been meaning to check up on Finn. Both because he had been worried about him, but also because he hadn’t been able to get that red hair and those freckles out of mind all night. Finn was beautiful, of course he had a boyfriend. 

“Yeah,” Logan nodded, his smile widening a second. “My boyfriend who apparently met an angel last night. He’s not wrong.”

Leo scratched at the back of his neck before continuing to wrap the bandage around Logan’s arm. “How is he?” 

“He’s fine. He’ll have a headache for a few days, but Lupin fixed him up,” Logan reassured. He hummed and pulled at the grass with his unoccupied hand. “Wouldn’t shut up about the blue-eyed angel called Leo though. I tried to make him stay in bed today, but he insisted you were real. Seems you are.” 

Leo thought his face was going to permanently take on its new shade of pink with the amount of blushing he was doing. “Isn’t it weird for you? Your boyfriend calling me an angel?” 

Logan shrugged, “Non, he didn’t lose his eyesight just because we got into a relationship. Besides, I trust him.”

Thankfully, Remus chose that moment to join them, praising Leo’s work and making a few comments on how it could be made a little better. Once he had gone, Logan began to tell him about his life growing up in Canada as if the previous conversation had never happened. Leo wasn’t sure whether he was relieved or frustrated. 

In return, Leo told Logan about the cooking classes that had led him to applying to work in the camp kitchens that summer. He found that Logan was actually a good listener, and nearly ended up spilling the details of the drama that led him to taking those classes as a replacement for the hockey games he was due to be playing. Another time maybe. Leo wasn’t going to think about how much he hoped there would be another time. 

The rest of the morning session seemed to fly by after that, and soon Leo found himself saying goodbye to Logan in order to find Regulus for lunch. 

“I’ll see you around,” Leo smiled.

“Sure thing, mon ange,” Logan said easily, and Leo tried not to read too much into that.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me happy :)


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